Rhodes

The City of Rhodes

The modern city of Rhodes or Ródhos (1991 pop. 98,181), located at the northeastern tip of the island, is the capital of the Dodecanese prefecture and is an industrial center and port. It has a variety of light industries. It is near the site of ancient Rhodes, planned in 408 B.C. by Hippodamus of Miletus. After repulsing a siege by Demetrius I of Macedon in 305 B.C., the citizens of ancient Rhodes erected (292–280 B.C.) in the harbor the Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue of Helios counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The colossus was destroyed in 224 B.C. by an earthquake. Rhodes declined in the 2d cent. B.C. with the rise of the free port of Delos. The present city was built largely by the Knights Hospitalers.